In Linear Tape-Open (LTO) media, there are standards of different generations such as LTO-3, LTO-4, and LTO-5. In these LTO media, as the number increases to LTO-3, LTO-4, and LTO-5, a recording capacity or a recording/playback speed increases.
Furthermore, even in drives that perform writing and reading of data with respect to these LTO media, there are drives of multiple generations depending on the type of the LTO media. For example, as these drives, there are an LTO-G3 drive, an LTO-G4 drive, and an LTO-G5 drive.
In tape library devices (tape devices) including the above-described drive and capable of performing recording/playback of these LTO media, there is a device equipped with a plurality of drives of different generations.
The LTO-G3 drive can record/play back only the LTO-3 medium. In addition, the LTO-G4 drive can record/play back the LTO-3 medium and the LTO-4 medium, but does not record/play back the LTO-G5 medium. Moreover, the LTO-G5 drive can record/play back the LTO-4 medium and the LTO-5 medium, and can play back the LTO-3 medium, but does not record the LTO-3 medium.
When installing the tape device or when installing additional drives, in a case in which a failure occurs in the drive, it is preferably to perform the connection confirmation (diagnosis) between the tape device and a host device. The diagnosis is performed by loading conventional LTO media that are commercially available to the drive as a diagnostic medium LTO.
When diagnosing the tape device equipped with the drive of third-generation as described above, it is confirmed whether or not each drive is normally working using two volumes of the diagnostic LTO-3 medium and the LTO-5 medium.    [Patent Literature 1] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 6-251475    [Patent Literature 2] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2010-27189
However, as described above, in the conventional tape device that includes the LTO-G3 drive, the LTO-G4 drive, and the LTO-G5 drive in a mixed manner, there is a problem in that two volumes of the LTO-3 medium and the LTO-5 medium are used for diagnosis, the diagnostic LTO media of multiple generations are included for diagnosis, and thus the cost increases. In particular, the conventional LTO media that are commercially available have a length of tape of 800 m and are expensive. Furthermore, there is also a problem in that the tape device includes a dedicated cell for storing the LTO-3 medium and the LTO-5 medium for diagnosis, and the tape device increases in size.